


To Do List

by firesonic152, Suspicious_Popsicle



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Pining, precanon/SEP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 16:56:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11212296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firesonic152/pseuds/firesonic152, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suspicious_Popsicle/pseuds/Suspicious_Popsicle
Summary: It wasn't any of his business. He kept trying to tell himself that. What Jack did and who he did it with wasn't any of Gabriel's business. It was hard to stay detached, though, knowing what he did.Stevenson was the last. Jack had officially slept with every man in the program.Everyone, that is, except for Gabriel.





	To Do List

**Author's Note:**

> Almost exactly 2 months ago, firesonic suggested the idea for this while we were chatting, we fleshed it out closer to an actual fic than usual over discord, and finally got it cleaned up for posting. =) Hooray!

Gabriel made it a habit to get up extra early in order to have the showers to himself. It usually allowed him a more peaceful start to his mornings. Today, however, he had the misfortune to nearly run right into Jack Morrison... just as he was sneaking out of someone else's room. Gaping, Jack stopped short. A blush reddened his face and neck, almost dark enough to hide his freckles. His mouth worked soundlessly until he finally managed a hasty 'Morning.' He darted past Gabriel and disappeared into his own room a few doors back down the hallway.

After a moment, when all remained quiet, Gabriel turned away. His eyes flicked to the nameplate next to the room Jack had just hurried out of, reeking of sweat and sex. Stevenson. Gabriel crossed the name off a mental list he hadn't ever meant to start keeping and scowled as he continued on his way to the showers.

It wasn't any of his business. He kept trying to tell himself that. What Jack did and who he did it with wasn't any of Gabriel's business. It was hard to stay detached, though, knowing what he did.

Stevenson was the last. Jack had officially slept with every man in the program.

Everyone, that is, except for Gabriel.

 

* * *

 

He honestly had barely noticed at first. Sure, Jack had been crap at keeping his one night stands secret, but back then he'd only been Morrison in Gabriel's head, just a face in the line, more competition than comrade, even. He'd been the Golden Boy, too bright to look at directly even when all of them were fighting to be sure they weren't lost in his shadow.

So, he hadn't paid much attention at first when Jack's sleeping around was just starting to become an open secret. At least, he hadn't thought he'd been paying attention. He heard the rumors and the locker room talk, of course, but he didn't join in and didn't seek it out. He focused on his own training, on what he needed to do to improve and to get through the hellish medical regimen imposed by the program. Facts filtered in from outside his field of focus, were cataloged and filed away. The list must have started back then just as a bit of mental organization. It grew, slowly and not always steadily. In the meantime, shared circumstance and the relatively cramped quarters of the base meant that Gabriel got to know his fellow soldiers better. They became friends. Jack became more than just a blip on his radar.

Gossip flourished like creeping vines. It put down roots and got under his skin.

Perhaps if Jack hadn't acted so strangely, none of it would have been such a big deal. He was friendly, popular. He worked hard and was a good man to have in your corner during training exercises. He didn't play favorites, no matter who he was supposedly sleeping with that week. Yet, as time passed and they all gradually became one unit, Jack seemed to take exception to Gabriel.

It started small. Watching Gabriel for no reason and putting on a sour face whenever he was caught at it. A wariness on the few occasions when the two of them spoke that left Jack reticent and searching for an escape from the conversation. He kept his distance, never approached Gabriel the way he did with the others, certainly never _flirted_ with him. His behavior caught Gabriel's attention, and he found himself watching Jack, in turn. Not a bad view, but the mystery behind Jack's attitude was frustrating. Gabriel wondered if some forgotten slight from the very first days of the program had left Jack bitter. He thought back, but came up with no possible incidents.

To make matters worse, the others noticed. It would have been impossible not to, as obvious as Jack was about it. They ribbed Gabriel and Jack both about it, usually separately, since Jack rarely allowed himself to linger in close proximity to Gabriel outside of training. Griffin once joked that maybe Jack was just too shy to express his feelings. That comment earned a roar of laughter from everyone in the rec room. Jack was currently fucking both Griffin and Martinez, and was by all accounts extremely vocal.

Gabriel didn't laugh at the joke. The gossip, the self-satisfied grins, Jack's brilliant smile—always seen from a distance and never directed at him—all of it was tangling up around him. The anger that should have been his response to Jack disliking him for no reason was tempered with disappointment. He tried not to think too hard about why that should be, but he couldn't help continuing to watch Jack, nor could he maintain his initial disinterest in the gossip. He could feel the situation growing thorns.

In everything else, Jack was faultless. He was confident without being arrogant, always willing to pitch in and help, and driven to succeed. Anyone who looked at him could tell that he was going places, and Gabriel watched him more than most. He saw the energy burning up inside Jack, leaving him restless when he ran out of things to do. He saw the hard set of his jaw when the injections laid all of them out and made them wonder if it was all worth it. He saw kindness when Jack helped his fellow soldiers during training or sparring or just when they needed a pep talk. He saw, on the rare occasions when their eyes met and Jack would look away guiltily, that Jack wasn't all that happy about disliking Gabriel. Which, of course, begged the question: what had gotten them off on the wrong foot?

 

* * *

 

Winter came and brought with it a blizzard that choked the grounds and trapped them all inside. The gym and rec room were occupied nearly twenty-four hours a day. Soldiers jogged circuits through the halls. With so many active super soldiers-in-the-making cooped up the way they were, it was no surprise that cabin fever set in quickly. Wrede and Lynch got into a fight—ostensibly over which of them had exclusive rights to Jack's ass, but it was obvious that that argument had only been the spark that ignited the tinder. Jack, whether through boredom or perversity, went through Green, Spencer, and Millar in the span of a few days. The gossip, which had always quieted around him, now turned on him, all fangs and accusations and expectations. Jack ignored it with a smile, but Gabriel could clearly see the brittleness of the expression. He tried to approach Jack about it, alone, but Jack could barely look him in the eye, and bolted as soon as he had the chance. Watching him race down the hall, Gabriel felt the vines tightening around his heart and didn't know if he was angry or sad or even who ought to be the focus of it.

 

* * *

 

The snow cleared up. Forgiveness was handed out all around. The gossip quieted back down. Gabriel accepted the fact that he had somehow developed feelings for Jack.

He tried again and again to catch Jack out and speak with him, but Jack always found an excuse to slip away. He never confronted Gabriel, never told him off or ordered him to stay away. He just ran. It was beyond frustrating, not least because it only deepened Gabriel's confusion. He hadn't pegged Jack as the type to run from anything, so why should he be so afraid of simply talking with a fellow soldier? The lack of answers soured Gabriel's mood. He snapped at the others more often, and demanded to know if any of them had been spreading rumors about him. He didn't understand what was going on in Jack's head.

Worse, the angrier he got over the whole mess, the less likely Jack was to even remain within earshot. It used to be that Gabriel could sit quietly in the corner of the rec room and watch Jack talk with the others or play a hand of cards or shoot pool. Now, Jack contrived to stay out of his sight if at all possible. Gabriel found himself searching for that bright blond hair, that flash of piercing blue from his eyes, and coming up wanting. The less he saw Jack, the more he _wanted_ to see him, and the more his irritation grew. He felt something building up inside him, and knew that, one way or another, something was going to have to give.

It all came to a head in the rec room one evening. Jack had come in with Hobb, all smiles and laughter that had faded once he'd spotted Gabriel in the corner, playing cards. Gabriel could see the urge to bolt in his eyes, but he'd apparently promised to play a game of pool, and so was trapped.

More interested in Jack than the game, Gabriel folded first chance he got and slipped away from the table. He snuck up while Jack was lining up a shot, and leaned against the wall to watch him, mind picking over the puzzle that was Jack Morrison even as he admired the way Jack's pristine white t-shirt clung to his broad shoulders. Although he'd thought he'd been unobtrusive, Jack glanced back over his shoulder almost as soon as he'd settled there. Tension flooded him as he tried to turn his attention back to the game, causing him to fudge his shot. He straightened, back stiff, and resolutely remained turned away from Gabriel. Still, it was the best chance Gabriel had gotten in a while, and he was determined not to waste it. He stepped up next to Jack and spoke quietly, as if dealing with a skittish animal.

“Try to relax a bit. You'll throw off your game if you're too tense.”

“I _know_ how to play pool. I was just distracted,” he muttered.

“Maybe there's something we can do about that. Been wanting to talk to you—”

Jack turned to him so suddenly that Gabriel broke off, stunned for a moment by the simple reminder of how blue his eyes were. He almost looked scared, and Gabriel felt an irrational surge of anger. He hadn't ever given Jack any reason to be afraid of him!

They were shoulder to shoulder, closer than they'd ever been, close enough that Gabriel could feel the warmth of his body, could smell faint traces of the unscented soap available in the showers. He caught a whiff of something beneath that, something musky, and he remembered how Jack and Hobb had left the mess hall while most everybody else had still been eating. The urge to grab Jack by the wrist and haul him out of the rec room, take him someplace private and demand answers was almost impossible to ignore. Gabriel was leaning closer, about to speak and not even sure what he was going to say, when Hobb interrupted.

“You're up, Jack.” He stepped around the table, looking back and forth between them with a leering grin. “Unless I'm interrupting something?”

Hobb knew just as well as everyone else that Jack had never liked Gabriel. When Jack looked down, Hobb kept grinning right at Gabriel, either inviting him to share some joke, or bragging about having gotten into Jack's pants.

“Reyes was just giving me some tips,” Jack said. He sidled away from the arm Hobb had been trying to wrap around his waist, then leaned over the table to line up a shot.

“What do you need him giving you tips for when you got me?”

Hobb stepped up right behind Jack, set his hands down on the edge of the table, and pressed his hips up against Jack's ass. He laughed, but Gabriel saw Jack's expression, saw the way he flinched and tried to swallow down a grimace as he moved away. It was enough to snap the remaining threads of Gabriel's patience. Before he could stop himself, he had grabbed Hobb by the shoulder and yanked him away from Jack. He shoved the man again for good measure and stepped in between them.

Hobb was smirking. “What’s got-“

Before he could complete his snarky comment, Gabriel punched him in the nose.

Hobb reeled back with a yowl of pain, clutching at his now profusely bleeding face. “What the _fuck_ man,” he shrieked.

Gabriel advanced on him, white-hot rage boiling and frothing inside him. He stepped right up and gave Hobb another shove to the chest. “What the fuck yourself,” he snarled. “ _You_ need some tips on consent.”

Before Gabriel could give Hobb another much-needed blow to the face, Jack got a hold of Gabriel’s arms and hauled him backwards. “Calm down,” he hissed between his teeth. “This is totally uncalled for.”

Gabriel yanked his arms free, pushing Jack away in the process, and then whirled around, unable to keep his fury from spilling over. “Back _off_ , Morrison!”

Jack squared his shoulders, ready for a fight. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Gabriel drew himself to his full height and was distantly reminded of the fact that he was shorter than Jack, though the difference was less than an inch. “ _You_ ,” he shot back. “You are what’s wrong.”

Jack visibly bristled and threw himself at Gabriel, knocking him into the wall. “If you have a problem with me, then fucking _come_ to me!”

Despite Jack’s arm pressed threateningly into his throat, Gabriel spat, “Apparently I’m the _only_ one you never come to.”

Jack blinked, startled. He stared at Gabriel as the full weight of that implication came down on both of them and then his face twisted, flushed and dangerously violent. "You have a problem with me because I like to have sex?” he asked, his coarse voice strained and thin.

"With _everyone on this base_ , Morrison." Gabriel could feel the icy sneer forming on his face, even as every alarm bell in his head was begging him to stop. "I counted. Every single person except me. What will you do now? Just skip right over me and start seducing the doctors with that pretty body?"

Jack slammed his palm into Gabriel's face and cracked his head against the wall.

"You-“ Jack was seething, eyes wide and betrayed. “ _Fuck_ you Reyes! What I do in my free time is none of your goddamn business!"

"It sure isn't. I’m apparently the only one who's been left out. You hate me that much?"

Jack forcibly took a step back, knuckles white as his nails dug into his hands. "You think I hate you?” His tone was dangerously even. “You think I _hate_ you?" He threw his hands up in the air. "Maybe I never asked you because I didn't want you thinking all _I_ wanted was a quick fuck!"

Gabriel froze at that, the snarl on his face melting into something uncertain. "Huh?"

"Maybe it's because I _like_ your dumb ass," Jack ranted. "Maybe it's because I didn't want to fuck everything up with you, and- and anyway _you’re_ the one who hates _me_! Always talking down to me and doing shit like this-"

"Jack—"

" _Don’t_ ,” Jack cut him off, his thin lips curled to show his teeth. “Don’t call me by my first name like we’re friends. Leave me the fuck alone."

As Jack stormed out and all the eyes that he had forgotten were there turned to look at him, the aching knot in his gut warned Gabriel that he had just done something much worse than making a mistake.

 

* * *

 

After several hours of wrestling with his guilt, Gabriel managed to steel his courage and shuffle down the hall to Jack’s room. He stared at the name on the door for several minutes before he convinced his hand to lift itself and knock. After another few moments, the door opened a crack.

The moment he saw it was Gabriel, Jack scowled and moved to shut the door. Gabriel hastily caught it with his foot. “I'm not here to pick another fight with you," he said.

Jack started to order him out, but Gabriel interrupted him with a slightly frantic: "I fucked up, I'm sorry." It somehow convinced Jack to stop trying to crush his foot with the door and instead peer at him suspiciously.

"I don't hate you," was the first thing Gabriel blurted out, mortified that he had given Jack that impression when it was the exact opposite. "I just— I got..." How was he going to explain that he hated Jack sleeping with other guys because he wanted Jack to only sleep with him— _without_ sounding totally self-absorbed?

Jack watched Gabriel struggle for the right words for a solid minute before opening the door with a sigh. "Let's not do this out in the hallway."

Gabriel stepped inside cautiously and Jack shut the door behind him. He went to sit on the edge of his bed while Gabriel stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, shifting his weight from side to side.

This was definitely worse than trying to apologize while Jack was smooshing his foot with the door, Gabriel decided. At least then, he could escape. There was something about being alone with Jack in Jack's room with the door shut that was making him nervous.

Gabriel opened his mouth but Jack cut him off with a harsh, "Apology not accepted."

Gabriel blinked, taken aback. "I haven't even said anything yet."

"I know." Jack’s eyes were hooded under his thick brows, observing Gabriel with an unspoken threat. "That was a really shitty thing to do, Reyes."

Gabriel inhaled through his nose and exhaled shakily through his mouth. "I know."

"It's none of your business who I'm sleeping with," Jack continued, threading his fingers together as he leaned forward with his elbows balanced on his knees.

Gabriel _wanted_ it to be his business, wanted it with an intensity that startled him, but he didn’t dare voice it. Instead, he nodded slowly. “Yeah."

Jack huffed, seemingly unconvinced, but looked away. "Okay. Say your piece."

"I wasn't... I didn't mean to judge you," Gabriel began hesitantly. "I don't care who you're sleeping with, or with how many people." It was a blatant lie. Jack seemed to know it too, by the way his steepled fingers dug into his knuckles and the line of his jaw hardened. Gabriel rubbed at the bridge of his nose and decided it would be best to just be blunt. "I got jealous."

That caught Jack by surprise. His head shot up to stare at Gabriel, his brow still furrowed but more in confusion than anger. "What?"

Gabriel squared his shoulders and said it again, repeating the words tonelessly as if answering to an officer: “I got jealous.” An ugly, petty emotion, unworthy of him—particularly since it seemed now he had even tanked his chances of having just a friendship with Jack. He couldn’t quite bring himself to meet that sharp stare.

"Jealous." Jack's voice was flat, disbelieving. Gabriel’s eyes tracked briefly across his face, saw the color rising in his cheeks even though Jack appeared faintly ill. Gabriel looked away quickly and shrugged, feeling a bit sick himself. The way Jack was reacting, if there was any chance he'd liked Gabriel before, it seemed as if that wasn't true any longer.

Jack laughed shortly, and the sound triggered a painful lurch in Gabriel's chest. There was something not right in the sound, something choked and hurting.

"Everybody else got a taste, why not you? Poor Gabriel." He spread his arms wide, teeth bared in an expression that only barely counted as a smile. "Well, _fuck_ me, Reyes, is that what it'll take to get you to quit looking at me like I'm a goddamn waste of space?"

"No, Jack, I—"

"What good's having a _slut_ around if you aren't getting any, huh?"

"Dammit, Jack, _shut the fuck up_!"

He couldn’t listen to any more, wanted to plug his ears or clamp a hand over Jack's mouth to dam the flow of hateful words. He took a heavy step closer, hating the poisonous, despairing look on Jack's face. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about! I'm not here because I want to fuck you! I'm here because— I'm here because..."

Words were failing him. They always failed him, but now was when it really counted. Now it was make or break and he could see that Jack was already on the verge of breaking, eyes too bright, voice too strained when he'd spoken.

"What do you want from me, Reyes?" That voice of his which had been playing in Gabriel's fantasies for weeks wavered. Jack had let his arms drop back down to his sides, but he was watching Gabriel tiredly, the fight gone out of him as soon as it had come.

"I want... I want to know why you always run away from me. If it's my fault, I want to know what I did wrong so I can fix it." He could feel his cheeks heating up with the embarrassment of needing to be so direct, with the anxiety of putting his heart on display. But this was important. He forced himself to go on. "I don't want to fuck you... I want to _be with_ you." His stomach tied itself in knots over how sappy the truth sounded.

Jack wasn't looking at him. He was scowling, shoulders tense, fists knotted around the bedsheets. "I've been with everyone on this base," he muttered.

"Doesn't matter," Gabriel said quickly.

A flash of furious blue as Jack looked him in the eye. "It sure as fuck mattered to you earlier!"

"Because it wasn't _me_!" Gabriel insisted. "Not because I think any less of you."

Jack snorted and looked away again. His scowl was fractionally less severe.

"Jack... I need to know. Earlier, you said that..." He grinned, hesitantly. "You said that you like my dumb ass. I just need to know..." Sighing, he tried to run a hand through his hair, knocked off his beanie, fumbled for it, and held it between them--something to keep his hands occupied, a shield in case things went wrong. "Tell me if I fucked it all up. If I did, then I'll stay the hell away from you. If not... If there's a chance we can start over..."

Jack crossed his arms. "Like hell I'd want to start over," he said, and Gabriel's heart plummeted. "I fell for you that first week here. That's a lot of time to make up for."

The implication sank in slowly, and Gabriel could barely believe it. He closed the remaining distance between them so fast that Jack looked up, startled. Those bright blue eyes narrowed almost instantly.

"You're still a real bastard." He eyed Gabriel suspiciously for a moment. "If all this is just you trying to butter me up—"

Dropping to his knees, Gabriel took Jack’s hands and brought them to his lips to place soft kisses on the backs of his fingers. He looked up, holding Jack's gaze and hoping his sincerity was clear.

"We can go as slow as you need, Jackie. I'm all yours."

There was something deeply sad in Jack's expression, but he tried on a smile and tugged at Gabriel's hands. Leaning back, he shimmied himself further onto the bed. "Come here and prove it," he said, and Gabriel could sense that the words weren't merely a teasing challenge, but an actual test. He had called Jack out in front of half the base, shouted at him over his promiscuity. There was such a look of resignation in Jack's eyes, that Gabriel could almost hear his thoughts, hear him telling himself that one quick fuck would erase the confession, would sate Gabriel's anger and put them back at square one, would tell him once and for all that nothing lasting could be built between them.

Jack kissed him roughly, desperately, and Gabriel let him set the pace, let Jack rush through and leave his skin peppered with teeth marks, let him straddle Gabriel's waist and ride him shouting to climax. He let Jack have that, let him burn off some of his sorrow and anger. The second round was Gabriel's to lead, and he spoke to Jack in the oldest language, loving with soft, lingering kisses, worshiping with lips and tongue, learning his body with gentle fingers, coaxing sweet, broken sounds from his throat until Jack was flushed and writhing, trembling on the edge, dappled with a collection of love bites, and calling Gabriel's name over and over as if all other words were lost to him and all meaning was wrapped up in the sound of it.

Afterward, Gabriel kissed the trails of tears on Jack's cheeks, and cleaned them up as Jack lay silent atop the rumpled sheets. He laid back down, pulling Jack close to hold him against his chest, not caring in the least that people would be talking about them, because he finally-- _finally_ \--had what he'd been dreaming about for so long. Nuzzling the back of Jack's neck, he fell asleep resolving to make sure this happiness didn’t slip from his fingers.

 


End file.
